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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. net — in sport
  6. race — a contest
  7. prune — to trim
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. prune — to trim
  10. net — after costs
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. stock — goods
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. degree — an amount
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. degree — from a university
  19. stock — shares
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. race — humankind
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fork — in a road

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com